


A Brief Conversation About Destruction and War

by TooMuchTwisted



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Implied Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Oneshot, Rewrite, Stubborn Katara (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooMuchTwisted/pseuds/TooMuchTwisted
Summary: Set in act 1 of 'The Southern Raiders.'In which the gaang have a long talk about how the war has affected them personally with some minor Zutara thrown in the mix.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 8





	A Brief Conversation About Destruction and War

**Author's Note:**

> This is mainly just to get some thoughts that I have out there because I really need to just write these down. Mainly consistent with canon. You can probably read this as an extended version of the campfire scene from 'The Southern Raiders.' 
> 
> This is just a scenario I had in my head. Not that long or convoluted, but I enjoyed writing it.

Zuko stepped away from the fire, holding the tray of teacups in front of him. The rest of the gang surrounded the fire in the centre of the camp. Toph had fashioned them tents of earth for the night ahead, a crude but necessary result of them being thrown out of the western air temple.

“I’m still not the best at making tea, but I think I picked up some nice tricks from working with Uncle,” Zuko said, handing the first cup to Sokka.

He shrugged, “Tea is tea. Beats not having dinner.” Sokka took a sip, quickly recoiling from the boiling water and holding his tongue out in an attempt to cool it, making an involuntary gagging noise as he did so.

Aang chuckled lightly, sending a whirl of air his way to cool the tea. “You have to let it cool first, Sokka.”

Katara laughed at her brother but stopped when she saw Zuko walking towards them. He handed Aang his cup first, followed by a brief, “Thank you, my good hotman,” as he began to blow on it gently.

Zuko steamed silently in annoyance, sending a glare towards the avatar as he placed Katara’s cup on the ground in front of her, not risking the interaction of handing it to her.

“I’m seriously just glad we managed to get out of there before your psycho sister blew us right off the cliffside,” Toph remarked, not looking as she took her cup from Zuko’s hand.

He nodded, “I should’ve figured she would have followed us after we ran into her at the boiling rock.”

“No kidding,” Suki cringed. “She… did not look happy last time we saw her.”

“That’s because she’s Azula,” he explained, handing her the second last cup of tea. “She always gets her way, and when she doesn’t then she punishes everyone else for it. She just seems to bring destruction with her, wherever she goes.” He placed the tray back near the fire finally, taking his cup and leaving the teapot for the others to use if they needed refills.

“Are you sure it’s not just a fire nation thing?” Katara shot, taking a slow sip of her tea and sending a sharp glare towards Zuko. They were sitting on opposite sides of the campfire, but she could still see his aggrieved reaction through the waves of heat.

“Katara, that’s not right to say,” Aang cut in between them, trying to prevent their conflict.

Sokka thought for a moment, “Well technically the fire nation started the war where they tried to take over the world, killing thousands of people. More or less, the adjective ‘destructive’ could be considered an appropriate term to use for the fire nation.” He was trying to approach the issue from a neutral stance but realised afterwards that he had only fuelled the tension between them all.

“Of course, I know that,” Aang started, defensively, “The war started when Fire Lord Sozin _wiped out_ the air nomads – my people! I know that better than anyone here!” His anger spiked for a moment, causing everyone to look at him. He cleared his throat, breathing for a second to try and remember his philosophy. “That’s not to say that all fire benders are inherently destructive. Remember Jeong Jeong?”

“He can be the exception. Look, I’m not trying to say that all fire benders are evil, but it’s easy to come to that conclusion after looking at everything they’ve done.” His neutral matter-of-fact tone faded when he next spoke. “I mean, just look at what they did to my tribe.”

It was quiet and personal, emotive and weak, causing everyone to think for a moment.

“I’m the last southern water bender in the world,” Katara said after a moment of silence. She offered a cold glance at Zuko, unwilling to exert too much energy. “The fire nation ravaged our village and forced our warriors to abandon our home to fight in the war. They wanted to wipe us out, there’s no excuse for that.”

Katara thought of her mother, Kya, killed in a raid by the fire nation, who attacked them seemingly for no reason. They could have easily killed the entire village. Her hand absentmindedly touched her necklace as she put down her cup of tea. It felt wrong to hold something that a _fire bender_ had given her: offensive, even.

“I don’t really like my parents that much,” Toph admitted, knowing she had already made that more than clear, “but I can’t imagine what they must have been worried about. I ran away _a lot_ as a child. It’s a miracle I was never hurt by some fire nation soldiers or abducted for some ransom. Even though, that did happen eventually. But that’s why they kept me a secret from the whole world, I guess. Because of the war. They just didn’t want to see me hurt.”

Suki sighed, “In the hundred years that the avatar was missing, Kyoshi Island kept to itself. I was never really afraid of the fire nation because I knew that they would never have come to our island. But having spent time in a fire nation prison–“ she cast a quick glance to Zuko, analysing his indifferent reactions to the stories being told – “I wish that we had taken action sooner. Maybe we could have helped the war effort.”

She took a sip of her tea, delighting in the taste, like freedom on her tongue. She couldn’t express how happy she was to finally be out of that place.

“You can’t change what’s been done, Suki,” Sokka offered, leaning back and returning to his nonchalant demeanour. “Who knows what Kyoshi could’ve done to help the war. All that matters now is that you’re free. We’re gonna take down the Fire Lord so that the world can go back to normal, without those fire guys ruining everything.”

This time when Suki looked at Zuko, she saw a pained expression. A small frown was on his lips and his brow was creased. He was staring directly into the fire, as if to detach himself from the situation.

Sokka followed her line of sight to the prince, who seemed nothing less than deflated. His eyes widened when he realised what he just said.

How did he manage to forget who he was sitting with?

“Oh, jeez, Zuko, I-I didn’t mean it like that! Like I said, not everyone from the fire nation is bad, just like how not everyone from the other nations is good by default.”

Before he could continue to blabber on, Zuko had seemed to snap out of his thoughts, whatever they were, and raised a hand to silence Sokka. “It’s okay.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment as Zuko left an intentional pause, meant to say _I didn’t take any offence, and in some ways, you’re actually right._

“When my uncle and I were moving through the earth kingdom after the siege of the north,” he glanced at Aang awkwardly, “I saw the way the war impacted everyone. And it was… confronting. I never realised just how badly the other nations were impacted by the war until I had to live like them.” He looked at Sokka this time, adding, “Not everyone in my family is bad.”

“We know, we know, you’re good now. Great.” Sokka said sarcastically. “I didn’t mean to undermine that like I did.”

“I was talking about my uncle,” he clarified.

Everyone seemed to understand now.

“Yeah, but even he was the Dragon of the West,” Toph chimed in. “It just goes to show that no matter how bad your past was, you can always change that.” 

Zuko nodded, figuring there was nothing more to add, but he still did anyway. “He was a real father to me. Always understood me and never really judged me…” he trailed off, pained by reliving his past. “And I betrayed him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he never forgave me.”

“I’m sure he will,” Aang offered, “He doesn’t seem like the type to hold a grudge.”

“You don’t understand,” Zuko didn’t mean to say. He curled his knees into his chest as he spoke, drumming the pads of his fingers on the tips of his knees. “After my mother left and my father… banished me,” he managed, carefully skipping over the details of the incident, “he was the only one I had left. For a long time. And then when I betrayed him so I could go back home, I was just… miserable without him.”

Brooding, he touched his fingers to his scar, feeling the transition between smooth skin and its rough surface like he had done hundreds of times. It was a sense of grounding for him. The rest of the gang watched him, unsure what to do. Seeing him like this was strange, someone who used to be the enemy so open and vulnerable in front of them. Everyone was quiet.

“I miss him,” Zuko said, lowly, almost to himself. “I’m lucky that I had him instead of my father.”

_“Boo hoo,”_ a mocking voice interrupted, “poor little fire nation prince.”

Everyone turned to see Katara kneeling upright, a scowl on her face.

Zuko took his hand away from his scar quickly and resumed a sitting position. He felt his eyes tear up – the weak boy that he was – and looked at her in disbelief through the flickering campfire with wide eyes. Her expression didn’t change as she glared over the pain on his face.

“Why would you say something like that?” Aang asked, getting defensive of Zuko, “The rest of us said our piece, now let him.”

“I don’t care,” she dismissed him quickly, now standing up and raising her voice. She looked directly at Zuko with her cold, angry eyes, “Your family has brought nothing but pain into this world and you have the nerve to talk about how hard the war has been on _you?_ Shut up.”

Aang tried to interject, only to be literally shoved aside by Katara and her fury.

“Why would I expect a spoiled prince to understand, anyway? You had everything you could have wanted growing up! While us peasants were grovelling in the mud, you were being fed grapes in bunches. You have no perspective on what the war has done to anyone here. The only person you care about is yourself.”

The last part was said lowly, threateningly. Suddenly everyone was quiet. Nobody moved.

Zuko tried to process everything being yelled at him, but when he figured that he couldn’t keep up, he looked down dejected.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped, quietly.

“You’re infuriating!” Katara grunted violently, deciding that if she didn’t get away from him soon then she’d end up killing him, or worse. So in an exaggerated display, she kicked the cup of tea over, hurling it somewhere she didn’t care for, and stomped off towards the cliff face.

The only thing Zuko could do was breathe.

“I can’t believe her,” Sokka said, the first to break the silence. “She makes everything about herself. How can she just do that?”

Zuko could only vaguely hear their voices as he started to understand what she had said to him.

“I mean, seriously, we were all talking about something and she just had to make it about herself.” Zuko understood that was Toph talking.

“I’m sure that she’s just frustrated.” Aang.

“Sure, but she doesn’t need to take it out on us.” Toph again.

“I’m sure everything’s just getting to her. She’ll come around, though.” Suki.

“I’m not so sure about that. She isn’t always the most understanding person.” Sokka.

_Why would I expect a spoiled prince to understand, anyway?_

Katara.

Zuko sucked in air through his mouth. The chill of the night made it hard for him to breathe.

He exhaled steam, feeling heat puff down his chest.

The conversation in the background blurred into noise, unrecognisable waves and clicks of their tongues. He shut his eyes to focus.

He sucked in another breath, this time through his nose like he had practiced in mediation for years. Then he released it, a long exhale through his mouth.

His shoulders moved up as he took another breath, feeling the tension of his mind releasing back into the world. And then he tried once more to breathe, feeling the tension coursing through his blood, the emotion surging through him in waves, before releasing it.

“Zuko, the fire!”

His eyes shot open, seeing the campfire towering over him, unlike how it was before. _Was I doing that?_

“I’m sorry, let me just—” he panicked for a moment, before realising that he was still in control. He stretched his arms out to his shoulder height, inhaling, before bringing his fingertips together and moving them down to his stomach, to the sea of qi, exhaling. The flames followed, dying out back to the flicker that was there before.

“Are you okay?” Suki asked.

They all looked at him, and suddenly he felt self-conscious.

The only response he had was a nod, before he said, “I’m gonna find Katara.” He stood and headed in the direction she had stormed off in as they all looked and murmured. But he didn’t care.

He didn’t even know why he was following her or what he hoped to gain by it. He just knew he should make it up to her.

When Zuko found her, she was sitting on a rock facing the ocean, a tall cliff in front of her. She apparently heard him coming, because she turned on her side so she could see who it was. She scowled once recognising him, turning away roughly.

He seemed pained, “I don’t get it. Why can’t you trust me when everyone else can?”

Katara rolled her eyes, “Oh please, that’s just what you want; people to trust you so you can hurt them even more when they realise what you’re really like.”

“That’s not what it is,” he tried to say, only to be interrupted by more of Katara’s shouting.

“I’ve already made that mistake once. Back in Ba Sing Se, remember?”

She looked him dead in the eyes to see his shattered response. He _did_ remember, and all he could do was grit his teeth and look away.

“You betrayed all of us. It’s a wonder that Aang let you anywhere near us after all those times you tried killing him. You’re a monster.”

“I was never going to kill Aang…” is all he managed to say.

“Oh, well that’s good. In a lifetime of evil, at least you can’t add being homicidal to that list.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

She was standing now, flailing her arms about emotively as she spoke. She was angry.

“What can I do to make it up to you?” he managed to say.

“You really wanna know?” she said, voice straining in annoyance. “Hmm, maybe you could conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the earth king. Or, I know, you could bring my mother back.”

She tried walking away after she said that, but Zuko grabbed her arm without thinking. She pulled it away, shrieking in anger.

“Don’t touch me!” she said, walking closer to him. She held her wrist where he had touched her, as if she’d been injured, or as if she was trying to wipe away the feeling of his hand.

They stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily. The wind blew in their faces, into their robes, both wondering what to say next. Until Katara did.

“I _trusted_ you, Zuko,” she looked away. Her voice wasn’t angry now. It was lower, but in more of a self-conscious way than a resentful one. “I made the mistake of trusting you and it cost us Ba Sing Se.” She stepped forward this time, getting right in his face, “I will never make that mistake again.”

Zuko grit his teeth.

She realised she could feel his heat, radiating off of him like a source of power. They both seemed to realise how close they were to each other.

“You betrayed me,” Katara spat, forcing herself to look him in the eyes, “And I _hate_ you.”

Her eyes darted to his lips for a moment, then down to his shirt and back to where they originated. His face sparkled with recognition as he absorbed her expressions, but they both stood rigid. Unable to say anything more, or perhaps unwilling.

So Katara walked away, leaving Zuko there. He squeezed his eyes shut, turning to face the edge of the cliff now.

He was going to make things right with her because he had no other choice.

But most importantly, he was going to make things right because he wanted to.


End file.
